Modern building codes require the widespread installation of sprinkler systems during construction and/or remodeling of both commercial and dwelling buildings. In addition, even when a sprinkler system is not mandated by a building code, their installation is nonetheless widely undertaken to improve the long term safety of working and dwelling places.
During the construction or reconstruction process of a building in which a sprinkler system is to be incorporated, it is standard practice to install the sprinkler system water distribution system at the same time the rest of the water system is installed, but the sprinkler heads are typically not installed until a very late step in the construction process and after the ceiling has been emplaced. During the intermediate period, downwardly directed drops to which an individual sprinkler head is to be subsequently affixed are temporarily capped off at their open ends which are usually physically situated just above the upper ceiling surface. An improvised small hole through the ceiling material is provided to obtain later guidance to the capped off drops from the space below.
Those skilled in the art will appreciate, however, that the subsequent installation of the individual sprinkler heads can be a time consuming and frustrating process because of the near inaccessibility of the drops through the small hole provided and the fact that a larger hole is required in the construction material constituting the ceiling to accommodate the sprinkler head. This larger hole must somehow be cut from below and yet must be as concentric as possible with respect to the drop. Typically, the holes to accommodate the sprinkler heads (which are to be threaded onto the drops) are improvised with a keyhole or similar saw by hand with decidedly unsightly and time consuming results. In some especially difficult installations, it may even be necessary to form the hole for receiving a sprinkler head by laboriously enlarging the roughly provided guide hole with a rasp, again with relatively unsightly results and through a very time consuming, and therefore expensive, process.
My invention is directed to eliminating these problems.